"Why didn't he understand such a simple thing? It was so obvious!" This is an often-heard comment when people talk about their predecessors. Here is a beautiful story by Albert Einstein that gives the answer to this why.
Einstein had just published his famous General Theory of Relativity. In a conference, he was being felicitated and the impressed speakers where admiring him. There was an enthusiastic speaker who suddenly started blaming Isaac Newton for his faulty theories. He was wondering how a person like Newton could make such grave mistakes!
In an answer to this speech, Einstein told a small story.
Long long ago, there was a young boy. One fine day, he went to a fair along with his father. There were lot of street artists performing and entertaining the crowd. At a corner, there was a large gathering of people.
The boy became curious and wanted to know what it was. But, neither he nor his father could see what was going on, due to the crowd. So the father lifted his son and put him on his own shoulders. Now, the boy could see beyond the crowd. There was a juggler tossing different objects in the air and catching them back adroitly. The boy became happy and started clapping. After sitting on his father's shoulders, he could see what his father could not!!!
Albert Einstein ended his story and the enthusiastic speaker understood his mistake!
